Get An Apple Watch Copycat For $80

There is nothing new about one technology company copying something from another company. Apple set the smartphone standard in 2007 and since then every smartphone is a copycat– flat slab of glass, rounded corners, a few buttons, a camera, and a gawd-awful number of applications.

Motorola should be ashamed of its atom level copying of iPhone X, but such shenanigans are nothing new. How about an Apple Watch clone for $80.

Clone Wars

Before the exposé on a Watch clone, first list what you’d like to see Apple do with future Watch models. OK, my list includes longer battery life, a lower price tag, and perhaps a larger screen on a thinner device. Round would be nice.

Any such new Watch would also need multiple color options, heart rate monitor, GPS, activity tracker, and be waterproof. That sounds like a Watch, right? Well, here’s one that supposedly does all that for $80.

Here’s the Amazfit Bip smartwatch with all that and more. For $80. On Amazon. With Prime. With more than 370 reviews. 4 stars.

Sweet, right? It’s like having an Apple Watch for $80. Alright, what’s the catch?

As it turns out, there are a few catches, despite the glowing reviews on Amazon (has anyone notice that almost all Prime products on Amazon get glowing reviews that average about 4 stars?). First, email and text messages are one way. You can’t reply. You get notification of an incoming phone call, but you have to use your iPhone to answer. The display is notably smaller than Apple Watch’s 38mm model and takes up smaller space on the watch, and as best as I can tell, there are no third party apps available.

One Amazon reviewer had a battery problem. Guess what? No customer support. No Huami store in the mall. No Genius Bar. But, plenty of glowing Amazon reviews. One gave it four stars even though battery life didn’t go 45 days or 30 days with GPS on. Others with a growing list of niggling little issues gave it three stars. There’s no sound, either, so alerts are vibration only.

The Amazfit Pace Multisport and Pace GPS above are priced at under $130 and come with more Apple Watch-like features.

The sleep tracker appears to be you telling the Bip when you went to sleep and when you woke up. One reviewer loved the battery life but nothing else. Another owner’s Bip stopped connecting to his smartphone and support could not help. Overall, reviews on Amazon are comparable to Apple Watch reviews?

So, is Amazfit Bip the bargain of 2018? Is Watch overpriced? Would you spend $80 to find out?

One Amazon reviewer summed it up:

I had an original Pebble smartwatch, and that is the standard bearer for all future smartwatches. This is junk. The watch is slow to react, the software that comes with it is useless, and the watch itself isn’t intuitive to use at all. Recharging the watch is difficult because it doesn’t fit in its cradle. That being said, if you want a watch that only needs to be recharged once or twice a month, gives time in any light condition, and vibrates on notifications, that this watch does that.

Seems reasonable? Is Apple Watch overpriced? Is this the bargain you’ve been looking for?

Wireless Whole House Audio

Airfoil streams any audio from your Mac to AirPlay, Bluetooth, and Chromecast hardware, all in sync. You can send any audio, anywhere. Get a free trial today!

How To Switch

About Wil Gomez

I live in Brooklyn, New York and work in Manhattan; a Mac owner for almost 25 years, and an IT specialist on mixed platforms-- Mac, Windows, and Linux. Read more of my articles here. My fiancée is semi-famous Kate MacKenzie. Follow her on PixoBebo.